Lesson 1. Research Ethics Basics
Welcome to the Research Ethics Course.
In this course, we assume that you already have knowledge about ethics (from your personal or educational experience). We also assume that you have limited knowledge of ethics in research.
The other assumption we make is that you are wanting to research or training to be a researcher.
Lastly, we value ethics that are grounded in the philosophy of Africa. Because of this, we would want you to understand the following before you start:
Recall — recall the ethics that exist in your life, family, village and community.
Revalue — revalue African ethics.
Relate — think about ethics in your culture or community and bring them into this course.
Reflect — reflect on ethics from other philosophies, think about what works and doesn’t.
Remember — to use your ethics in practice not just theory.
Reform — your practice as appropriate.
KEY DEFINITIONS
The definitions are arranged in alphabetical order.
- Conflict of interest: a situation where a researcher or ethics committee member will benefit from a decision about ethics
- Ethic: the rightness of an action
- Ethical analysis: using relevant ethics to assess an action’s potential consequences
- Ethical considerations: a discussion of how a research or practitioner will apply ethics in a project or activity they are taking
- Ethical dilemma: a situation where right or wrong cannot be determined easily
- Ethical guidelines: rules used by governments and ethics committees to determine if an action is right or wrong
- Ethical independence: the decision of a committee or member of the committee should not be influenced by the institution, the applicant or otherwise
- Ethical issue: an action that is likely to result in an ethic being compromised or questioned
- Ethical problem: an action that will result in an ethic being broken
- Ethics advice: recommendations made by an ethics committee
- Ethics application fee: a fee that is paid to get ethics advice or clearance
- Ethics approval: clearance given by an ethics committee to go ahead with an action determined as right.
- Ethics clearance: approval given by an ethics committee to go ahead with an action determined as right.
- Ethics colonization: a situation where local ethics are replaced by non-African ethics
- Ethics committee: a task group of people set up to review ethics in research or practice
- Ethics deliberation: a discussion to reach consensus on an ethical issue, problem or dilemma. Most African communities deliberate on ethics most of the time
- Ethics protocol: a document or statement that details a project, ethics considerations and how ethical issues will be addressed
- Ethics rejection: a denial or blockage given by an ethics committee not to go ahead with an action determined as wrong
- Ethics review board: a task group of people set up to review ethics to be applied when doing research or practice
- Oral ethics: unwritten ethics that exist in proverbs, songs, poetry and are embodied
- Practice ethics committee: known as Clinical Ethics Committees in health, their role is to oversee ethics for practitioners
- Research ethics committee: a task group of people set up to review ethics in research. Also known as institutional review boards or committees.
- Risk-benefit assessment: measuring risk of an action against potential benefits
- Risk: potential to cause harm, distress, disability or death
- Unethical: the uprightness of an action